Category: Industry
Agri Tour
Nov 06, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank is sending local farmers to India to study agricultural practices and learn new techniques, officials said. The farmers, who are customers of 12 HNB branches hail from agricultural centres like Dambulla, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Tissamaharama, Gampaha and Nuwara Eliya. “This is to encourage farmers to be […]
Central Rating
Nov 06, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Central Finance Company’s (CF) long-term rating of ‘A+ (lka)’ with a ‘stable’ outlook. CF has a 20 percent interest in Nations Trust Bank (‘A (lka)’), a licensed commercial bank. “CF’s rating factors in its strong financial profile and its dominant market position as the second-largest […]
Top Dog
SHANGHAI, Nov 5, 2007 (AFP) – PetroChina became the world’s largest company by market value Monday, worth nearly one trillion dollars — double the value of ExxonMobil — as its shares surged in their debut on the Chinese mainland. The milestone underlined the ongoing boom on Chinese markets, which have been flooded with ready cash […]
Open Sesame
Nov 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s teleco operators are pushing the industry regulator to remove technology limits and allow networks to share resources as part of a broad plan to liberalise the market further, officials said.The wish list — prepared during an industry pow-wow with the telecom watchdog last week — also includes prickly […]
Under Pressure
Nov 05, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says Sri Lanka’s finance companies are coming under stress from the current high interest rates and inflation, which increases risks especially in smaller finance companies. Updated/corrected, bailout numbers While most finance companies are well capitalized compared to their risk assets, 12 smaller firms out of 31 do not […]
High Growth
Nov 05, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) has grown 40.3 percent in the year to March 31 2007 compared to the rest of the industry which grew at 16 percent, Fitch Ratings said, confirming the firm’s ‘A(lka)’ rating. However Fitch said bad loans were rising and asked the leasing firm to “aggressively […]
Sri Lanka beaten by Queensland in tour match
BRISBANE, Australia, Nov 4, 2007 (AFP) – Queensland staved off a Sri Lankan pace onslaught to hold on for a four-wicket victory on the final day of their three-day tour match at Allan Border Field here Sunday.In-form Noffke had match figures of 8-57 while Test squad member Mitchell Johnson had a quiet game ahead of […]
Sri Lanka, Australia announce Warne-Muralitharan trophy
SYDNEY, Nov 3, 2007 (AFP) – Australia and Sri Lanka will play for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy this month in honour of the two leading wicket-takers in Test history, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket announced Saturday.Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, who have taken more than 1400 Test wickets between them, have lent their names to […]
Sri Lanka fight back after bad start against Queensland
BRISBANE, Australia, Nov 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka fought back after an early innings collapse to claim four Queensland wickets on an eventful opening day of their three-day tour match at Allan Border Field here Friday.The Queenslanders won the toss and had the tourists struggling at 81 for six in the 27th over before […]
Anti-doping sleuths arrive in Sri Lanka for Rugby championship
November 02, 2007 (LBO) — The International Rugby Board’s anti-doping inspectors arrived in the Sri Lanka to kick off the Asian Rugby championship which starts in Colombo later this week, officials said Friday. Tim Ricketts, the board’s anti-doping Manager, will lead the panel during the nine-nation event which runs from November 3-10. “We will do […]
Happy Shopping
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan media management and marketing services company, has tied up with a UK firm to offer retail design and research to optimize revenues, officials said. Vanguard Management Services has tied up with Shopworks, a UK consultancy which has worked with retailers like Tesco, Carrefour, Wal-Mart as well as […]
Spending Power
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan conglomerate Hemas Holdings has reported a sharp fall in net profit for the September quarter as high inflation erodes consumer spending and high interest rates make borrowing for investments more costly. Group net profits fell 44 percent to 166 million in the second quarter ending September 2007, according […]